Learning Units
The NBS EduWORLD Learning Units page offers a comprehensive and flexible suite of resources designed to integrate Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) into higher education and professional training. With 50 curated Learning Units, this platform supports educators, students, and practitioners at all levels—undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG), doctoral (PhD), vocational, and entrepreneurial.
Covering a broad spectrum of themes and contexts, the Learning Units are structured around key educational streams:
- Common Core Units introduce foundational NBS concepts, such as ecosystem services, biodiversity, and the SDGs.
- 3rd Level Units target university-level learners, with a focus on implementation, policy, social inclusion, and future urban development.
- Entrepreneurial Units support learners exploring nature-based enterprises, business models, green finance, and sector-specific NBS opportunities.
- Vocational Units are tailored for practical skills development, project management, policy engagement, and multi-level governance.
- Case Studies and Workshops offer real-world applications and participatory methods from NBS EduWORLD demonstrator sites across Europe.
Each unit is aligned with European Qualification Framework (EQF) levels, ranging from Level 6 to Level 8, ensuring academic relevance and adaptability.
These Learning Units are editable and adaptable, supporting custom integration into curricula, practice-oriented, blending theory with applied learning, and geographically diverse, reflecting urban, rural, and coastal NBS contexts.
Download the full list of Learning Units
Whether you're a lecturer seeking ready-to-use teaching materials, a student exploring sustainability, or a professional upskilling in green innovation, the NBS EduWORLD Learning Units offer a unique, user-friendly gateway into nature-based thinking and action.
Search results ( 31 - 35 of 41 )
NBS in Review
This unit revisits the concept of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), highlighting their critical role in addressing urban challenges related to climate change, biodiversity, and health. The session also explores tools for scaling NBS, the importance of community collaboration, and how EU policies support the widespread adoption of NBS, focusing on projects like smart cities and re-wilding efforts.
Find here the editable version and the teaching note.
Educational Level: Higher Education
Language: English
Organisation: TCD
NBS Thinking
As urban communities face immense environmental challenges, NBS in isolation is not generating traction on its own. Nature-Based Thinking (NBT) is enabling a change in mindset for key stakeholders, shifting from a solutionist approach to a systemic one involving multiple interventions and engagement by partners and NBS. This Learning Unit introduces the concept of NBT, how it involves communities, institutions/organisations and nature/ecological processes to reconceptualise human-nature-organisational relationships. It challenges learners to reflect on how communities can relate in new ways to nature, new modes of governing and taking long-term, sustainable management of NBS.
Find here the editable version and the teaching note.
Educational Level: Higher Education
Language: English
Organisation: TCD
Pitching for Nature-Based Enterprises
Pitching is a vital skill for a nature-based enterprise to master if conventional investors are to be convinced of its value and invest. This learning unit will empower the learner to understand the art of pitching for investment. In this unit, participants will learn the core elements of a successful pitch and be equipped with tips and tricks to avoid some of the most common pitfalls when pitching. By the end of this learning unit, the participant will have the necessary know-how to develop content for their own pitch deck.
Find here the editable version and the teaching note.
Educational Level: Professional
Language: English
Organisation: Horizon Nua
Policy and Governance Frameworks for NBS in Europe
Europe has demonstrated its support and leadership in NBS implementation. The development of NBS on the continent is supported by European policy and governance frameworks. This module presents these frameworks in the context of various European projects focused on NBS in urban, rural and coastal communities. The focus on GreenComp - The European Green Competency Framework and the recent EU Nature Restoration Law (2024) and a policy on NBS and Nature Positive Economy will be highlighted. EU projects that offer insights into policy development and frameworks for NBS implementation will also be highlighted and interrogated during this Learning Unit.
Find here the editable version and the teaching note.
Educational Level: Higher Education
Language: English
Organisation: TCD
Public procurement for NBS
This unit provides an understanding of public procurment, and highlights its role in the promoting amd implementing NBS in urban areas by providing an overview of procurement practices, challenges, and opportunities for using public procurement to implement NBS projects.
Find here the editable version and the teaching note.
Educational Level: Professional
Language: English
Organisation: PPMI
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.